1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a soil sampler.
While the invention is referred to as a soft soil sampler, it will be appreciated that the device can be used to obtain samples of hard, compacted or frozen ground such as permafrost, or samples of a variety of other materials such as peat, muskeg and shale. Accordingly, the term "soil", as used herein, should be given a broad interpretation.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Soil or core samplers are by no means new. Examples of such devices are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,701,121 issued to A. D. Bull on Feb. 1, 1955; U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,368, issued to D. E. Wolpert on May 1, 1955; U.S. Pat. No. 2,868,019, issued to A. D. Bull on Jan. 13, 1959; U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,334, issued to Henry Bolt on Jun. 18, 1974; U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,263, issued to T. J. Malterer on Mar. 4, 1980; U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,393, issued to H. Philipenko on Feb. 23, 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,541, issued to J. G. Doty on Jun. 8, 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,021, issued to Roman Repski on Nov. 13, 1984; U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,169, issued to M. E. Heller on May 25, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,949, issued to N. A. Wright et al on Mar. 7, 1995 and 5,435,399, issued to G. G. Peterson et al on Jul. 25, 1995. In general, the patented devices are somewhat complicated, and often cumbersome and consequently can be used on a truck or other large vehicle only.
Accordingly, a need still exists for a soil sampler which can be used on a variety of vehicles, including small trucks, trailers or all terrain vehicles.